Democratic, Republican Women Duel Over Santorum Views

Republican presidential Rick Santorum’s public embrace of strong conservative stands may be helping his primary campaign.

But Democrats say some of those beliefs will alienate women voters if the former Pennsylvania senator emerges as his party’s nominee, Politico reports. On the other hand, many Republican women defend him.

Santorum has made a few comments in recent days that have attracted Democrats’ attention. He said women shouldn’t be permitted to serve in the military, because military men would put too much focus on protecting them.

He also reiterated his opposition to contraceptives, saying their use shouldn’t be covered under the national healthcare law because they are “inexpensive.” And though Santorum doesn’t seek to ban birth control, he is personally against it.

In response, some liberal women have launched a verbal assault against Santorum. “Regardless of whether Republican women like some of his policies, I think they’re going to be so turned off by his judgmental stand on the independence and essential rights of women that they won’t be able to vote for him,” Kim Gandy, former president of the National Organization for Women, told Politico.

But at least some Republican women beg to differ. “I don’t think the criticism’s fair at all. I know him. I know him to be very supportive of women. I’ve known him for 20 years. He’s always been very supportive of my career,” Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, told Politico.